Motor vehicles – Special wheel base – Having only two wheels
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-29
2001-07-17
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Motor vehicles
Special wheel base
Having only two wheels
C180S065600, C180S230000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260649
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of electric battery powered and electric battery power assisted vehicles, and more specifically to ways to both minimize the loss of energy that results when such vehicles are stopped or slowed down by braking, and to accomplish this with a minimum of mechanical parts and systems. This invention also relates to what might be termed the field of alternative personal transport vehicles, i.e. vehicles other than cars, trucks, vans, and the like. This invention also relates to vehicles that are powered simultaneously by both foot pedals and gasoline or electric motors.
A long-standing need for electric powered vehicles and other alternative personal human transport vehicles has been widely recognized due to the tragedies, problems and difficulties associated with conventional fossil fuel powered vehicles. Upwards of forty thousand Americans are killed each year in traffic accidents, and many more people are injured. Pollution from cars is both an immediate problem in areas of heavy traffic and parking garages, and a regional and global environmental problem due to the regional and global effects of both air pollution and thermal pollution. The transportation system built around conventional gasoline powered cars has additional problems including the high cost of building and maintaining roads and parking facilities, and both personal stress and wasted energy resulting from traffic jams.
The emerging field of electric vehicles may solve or reduce many of these problems. These new vehicles will change the way people think about personal transportation. Many of them are likely to be considerably smaller and lighter then even current compact and subcompact cars. The ability to reduce power and battery capacity requirements to a minimum will be crucial to achieving the full benefit from what may be a shift in coming decades to electric vehicles as the primary personal transportation vehicle.
Conventional cars are stopped by brakes, and these brakes dissipate the vehicle's kinetic energy. Some efforts have been made to reduce or eliminate this dissipation. A German bus uses a flywheel/brake combination, where the application of the brake system drives a flywheel and transforms the linear kinetic energy of the vehicle into rotational kinetic energy that is subsequently used to accelerate the bus. Such a system is both bulky and requires many mechanical parts and for these reasons may not be best suited for small electric vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,908 is for an electric powered vehicle that includes the use of a generator, and that specifies the generator is used to recharge batteries when the vehicle is decelerating. However, this invention uses separate devices for motors and generators, and requires the use of a transmission system to increase generator rotation to a speed sufficient to generate electricity. In addition, although the generator is specified to operate when the vehicle is decelerating, no mention is made of the function of the generator as a brake, or of the recovery of kinetic energy that would otherwise be dissipated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The nub of the present invention is the use of a system of rechargeable battery cells, switches, electric circuits, and motor-generators, to both power a vehicle at a higher voltage level, and to conserve energy by recharging the batteries at a lower voltage level when the vehicle is being stopped or slowed. A motor-generator is a single device that functions in two modes: a) motor mode, and b) generator mode, such that the mode of function is determined by the use of different circuits and circuit elements including batteries and/or battery cells, and such that for generator mode a minimum operating RPM is required.
A vehicle of the present invention can function in four operating modes: driving mode, reverse mode, charging mode, and neutral mode. Some vehicles of the present invention, such as some pedal-electric vehicles, do not require a reverse mode.
A vehicle of the present invention uses up to nine general kinds of components.
The first kind of component of the present invention comprises what will be referred to as a Motor-Generator. Conventional commercially available DC motors can function as Motor-Generators. Motor-Generators of the present invention are operated individually and/or in combination by a driver of a vehicle of the present invention. A vehicle of the present invention will typically have Motor-Generators of different size and power, providing for a range of driving power output and generating output. A Motor-Generator component can include a clutch sub-component that is engaged when the Motor-Generator operates and disengaged when the Motor-Generator does not operate. A Motor-Generator component of the present invention functions in two modes. In both modes, the same Motor-Generator is mechanically connected to one or more wheels of a vehicle of the present invention. When operating in motor mode the Motor-Generator component is supplied DC electric power and drives the vehicle. When operating in generator mode, the same Motor-Generator component functions as a generator, and charges rechargeable battery cells of the vehicle. All Motor-Generators of a vehicle of the present invention that are operating at any time are typically functioning as either motors or as generators, with one exception. The exception is that when one or more Motor-Generators of a vehicle of the present invention are operating as motors, one or more Motor-Generators of a vehicle of the present invention may be used as generators to provide electric power to other vehicle systems, such as headlight systems, that are not comprised in the present invention, thus avoiding the waste of energy that occurs due to a battery's internal resistance when the battery is being charged and discharged.
The second kind of component of the present invention is a rechargeable battery cell. For all design versions of the present invention, multiple rechargeable battery cells are used as components. Some rechargeable battery cell components are termed charge-drive battery cells, and are used in two kinds of circuits, one circuit where multiple battery cell components are connected in parallel, and another circuit where multiple battery cell components are connected in series. In driving mode, multiple charge-drive battery cell components are connected in series to produce a relatively high voltage used to drive one or more Motor-Generators functioning as motors. In charging mode, multiple charge-drive battery cell components of the present invention are connected in parallel at a voltage as low 2V, thus allowing Motor-Generator components to charge the battery cell components while operating at a wide range of speeds including relatively low speeds. Additional battery cell components termed turbo battery cell components can also be included in series circuits with charge-drive battery cell components to provide a higher and wider range of voltage levels to operate Motor-Generator components as motors. For larger and more powerful vehicles of the present invention operating at higher voltage levels, commercially available batteries such as 4V, 6V and 12V batteries can be used as the functional equivalent of individual battery cell components.
The third kind of component is electrical wiring, including connecting points that allow multiple wires to be conveniently connected.
The fourth kind of component is an individual on-off electrical switch. Individual on-off switches can be operated independently by the driver, and/or can be operated by other components and methods to be described.
The fifth kind of component is termed a multi-switch. A multi-switch is a structure that allows a vehicle operator to simultaneously change the on-off state of multiple individual on-off electrical switches. When a multi-switch is operated, each individual on-off electrical switch controlled by the multi-switch is flipped, some from on to off and others from off to on. Mechanical toggles or lever
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Fischmann Bryan
Johnson Brian L.
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